First Commercial Success for Enhanced Geothermal Systems Spells Exponential Growth for the Future of Geothermal Energy

April 12, 2013

DOE, Ormat Collaborate
to Produces the first 1.7 MW of Tomorrow's Electricity

(Washington, DC)– As part of the Obama Administration's all-of-the-above
energy strategy, the Energy Department today recognized the nation's first
commercial enhanced
geothermal system (EGS) project to supply
electricity to the grid. Leveraging $5.4 million in DOE funding matched by $2.6 million in industry
investment, Nevada-based Ormat Technologies increased power output by 38%
within an operating geothermal field at the Desert Peak 2 demonstration site, generating
an additional 1.7 MW of power.

"Developing
America's vast renewable energy resources sustainably is an important part of
President Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy to create jobs and
strengthen U.S. global competitiveness," said Assistant Secretary for
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson. "The
Churchill County geothermal project represents a critical investment to ensure
America leads in this growing global industry."

Extending the life of unproductive wells using new
technologies is one example of these innovations. With an increased injection
rate up to 1500 gpm, the well stimulation at Desert Peak establishes new
revenue, greater resource reserve, and production certainty, which boosts
investor confidence. The Desert Peak success demonstrates that EGS technologies
are within reach right now.

"We're very
pleased to have partnered with Ormat Technologies to achieve the first
commercial EGS success in the United States," stated Doug Hollett, Director of
DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office. "Desert Peak is an example of our
federal role to push the boundaries and do what has not been done before."

This landmark accomplishment follows two other major
DOE-funded technical achievements focused on demonstrating the commercial
viability of EGS: The Calpine EGS demonstration at The Geysers in Middletown,
California and the AltaRock project at Newberry Volcano near Bend, Oregon.
Since the project’s inception, DOE has invested in more than four years of
collaborative work among project partners Ormat, GeothermEx, Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory (LBNL), U.S. Geological Survey, and Sandia National
Laboratories (SNL), among others.

"There is significant
potential to develop EGS at lower cost in or near the margins of existing
hydrothermal fields," said Lauren Boyd, EGS Program Manager for the Geothermal
Technologies Office. "Our EGS portfolio gives us a pathway to bring EGS power online
in the near-term while we go after that larger
target of greenfield development."

Enhanced
geothermal system projects capture power from intensely hot rocks,
buried thousands of feet below the surface, that lack the permeability or fluid
saturation found in naturally occurring geothermal systems. EGS technologies
utilize directional drilling and pressurized water to enhance flow paths in the
subsurface rock and create new reservoirs, capturing energy from resources that
were once considered uneconomical or unrecoverable.

With a resource capacity estimated at
more than 100 GWe in the United States alone, EGS has the potential to make a considerable
contribution to the domestic renewable energy sector.

The Geothermal Technologies Office supports
innovative technologies that reduce both risk and costs of bringing baseload geothermal
power online. For more information, visit their website.